Thomas 'Set Up by a Bad Ball' Remark

On January 29, 2024, former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas posted a reply on X (formerly Twitter) that directly referenced a Week 10, 2023 play and attributed his season‑ending knee injury to poor ball placement. Thomas wrote, "Well, if I didn’t get set up by a bad ball, I probably would’ve had a light little 1k yards this year but could of should of I know, I get it lol." That reply was captured and reported by Pro Football Network as a public criticism of the quarterback who threw the pass, Derek Carr, with whom Thomas had overlapped during the 2023 season after Carr signed with the Saints on March 6, 2023 [6][9]. Context: Thomas remained on the Saints through March 13, 2024 when the team designated him as a post‑June‑1 release (failed physical) [7]. The Jan. 29 post preceded that roster move and is the earliest documented public critique in this corpus linking a specific play to Thomas's injury and explicitly calling out ball placement. The remark circulated in sports media as evidence that Thomas had begun airing grievances publicly rather than through internal team channels [6].

This Jan. 29, 2024 post matters because it established a documented public critique from Michael Thomas aimed at Derek Carr that predates later escalation. By directly tying a 2023 play to a season‑ending injury and using the phrase "set up by a bad ball," Thomas framed the dispute around quarterback ball placement and receiver safety rather than abstract criticism, creating a factual foundation reporters used when the feud resurfaced later in 2024 [6][1]. The comment also signals that the relationship between the two had publicly visible strain before Thomas left the Saints [6][7].

After the Jan. 29 post, outlets preserved Thomas's reply as part of ongoing coverage of his injury and roster status; there was no public, on‑record response from Derek Carr specifically about the Jan. 29 line in the sources collected. Thomas remained on the Saints until the team designated him a post‑June‑1 release for a failed physical on March 13, 2024, which changed the dynamic by making Thomas an external critic rather than an on‑roster teammate [7]. The Jan. 29 remark resurfaced in media narratives when Thomas issued a broader, profane X rant on Nov. 3, 2024 after Chris Olave's concussion, demonstrating continuity in Thomas's public complaints about ball placement [2][8].